Kukla's Korner Hockey

- The good news for Colorado as it waits for L’Affaire Duchene to sort itself out? At the NHL media tour last week in Manhattan, MacKinnon said, “It’s funny. More than ever, I want to be part of the Avs right now, because to be where we were and then to win would be unbelievable.”...

- No NHL home yet for Russian free agent Danis Zaripov. There are concerns about a 36-year-old who has never played in North America and doesn’t speak English, but word is teams have been told that Zaripov isn’t interested in holding them hostage. If he signs a contract and it doesn’t work, he is prepared to walk away.

- Entering the 2017 playoffs, Braden Holtby’s post-season numbers were spectacular — a 1.87 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in 46 games. Then came Toronto, where he was beaten by several strange ones. Another NHL goalie called the Maple Leafs’ goals “some of the weirdest” he’d ever seen. There were reports Washington considered pulling Holtby and he admitted it bothered him. “(It was) completely bizarre, the bounces and things that were happening. Fortunately, we won, but the thing I’ve worked on is not letting it affect me in the next series, getting over that mental hurdle — the feeling of things not going your way. That was the most I’ve been challenged in my career in terms of uncontrollable things that just happen. It’s good to go through because it will help our team in the future, and also myself. It was difficult.” Holtby pointed out that when you are struggling, you can watch video or do extra practice. But when you feel you are doing things right and still getting beat, it’s “difficult to stay on that (positive) path.”